How translation slip-ups gave rise to big doctrines in Christianity.
2024-10-29
Let’s talk about how translation goofs in the Bible have impacted Christian beliefs. It’s wild to think that errors and tweaks in wording have shaped core ideas that define Christianity today. These aren’t just minor oopsies, but serious translation flubs that rewrote entire doctrines.
1. The Virgin Birth — A Matter of Young Woman vs. Virgin
In the Old Testament, the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 says, “Behold, the young woman shall conceive and bear a son.” The Hebrew term here is almah, meaning “young woman.” But when the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek (Septuagint), almah was translated as parthenos, which typically means “virgin.” So, later on, when Matthew wrote his gospel, he grabbed that Greek term and ended up describing Jesus’ birth as a virgin birth. This version heavily influenced the entire Christian doctrine of the virgin birth. One word switch in translation and, voila, a core belief of Christianity was born.
2. Hell and Eternal Damnation — The Word Choices from Sheol to Infernum
The idea of “hell” as an eternal pit of fire wasn’t always so clear-cut. In the Hebrew Bible, Sheol was just the place where the dead went — a bit of a gloomy holding zone, but not an eternal punishment pit. When the Bible got translated into Greek, Sheol turned into Hades (Greek underworld), and later, the Latin Vulgate used infernum, which began to add connotations of a fiery underworld. Meanwhile, Gehenna, an actual valley outside Jerusalem that was a trash-burning pit, also started being used interchangeably with hell. These translation choices turned a somber resting place into a vision of eternal torture. And that scary, burning “hell” became a core threat in Christian theology.
3. Original Sin — A Mistranslation Born of Augustine’s Reading
The doctrine of original sin that paints humanity as carrying Adam’s guilt is largely thanks to St. Augustine. Romans 5:12 in Greek states, “sin entered the world, and so death spread to all because all sinned.” However, when Augustine read the Latin translation, he took it to mean “in whom all sinned,” suggesting that Adam’s guilt passed to everyone. So, this mistranslation fed into the idea that all of us inherit this “original sin,” creating one of Christianity’s most depressing doctrines — the idea that everyone’s born tainted because of one guy’s mistake.
4. Penance vs. Repentance — The Catholic-Protestant Rift
The Greek word metanoia means “repentance” or “a change of mind.” But when translated into Latin, it became poenitentiam agere, or “do penance.” This word choice put a ritualized spin on repentance, leading Catholics to develop a formal penance practice — as if saying a few Hail Marys could clear your record. This idea of penance became a major sticking point in the Reformation when reformers like Martin Luther argued for “repentance” as an internal change, not some ritual act. Thus, one bad translation choice split entire branches of Christianity.
5. Church Authority — Playing with Rocks
Matthew 16:18 has Jesus telling Peter, “You are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church.” The Greek text has a wordplay here: Petros (a small rock, referring to Peter) and petra (large rock or foundation). Some took this verse as Jesus saying the church was built on Peter himself, which the Catholic Church used as a basis for papal authority. However, another interpretation is that “this rock” refers to Peter’s faith, not Peter himself. The translation left just enough room for the Catholic Church to justify establishing the papacy.
6. Faith vs. Works — Misinterpreting “Ergon” in James
The debate between faith and works often circles back to James 2:24: “a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” The Greek word ergon means “work” or “deed.” Translating this phrase led to a theological tug-of-war. Protestants generally argue for faith alone, saying works can’t save you, while Catholics place a big emphasis on good deeds. Translational nuances here fed right into the Protestant Reformation — and they’re still arguing about it.
7. Women in the Church — A Loaded Word on Authority
In 1 Timothy 2:12, Paul says, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man.” The Greek word authentein is tricky, as it could mean “dominate” or imply an overly aggressive control, rather than simple authority. Yet, the interpretation that stuck was “women shouldn’t have authority.” Many churches have used this verse to justify denying women leadership roles. But if you trace it back, it’s all because someone translated authentein as a hard “authority” rather than a nuanced control. That choice has restricted women’s roles in the church for centuries.
8. Satan and the Concept of Evil — From “Accuser” to Dark Overlord
The Hebrew Bible refers to ha-satan — literally “the accuser” or “adversary.” This term applied to various human or divine figures. But through translation into Greek and then English, ha-satan turned into “Satan,” becoming the personified “bad guy” that Christians would recognize as the devil. The translation helped elevate Satan from being a generic adversary to becoming a supreme figure of evil. A small shift in meaning led to huge implications for how Christians understand good, evil, and spiritual warfare.
Before You Go
So here we are. These aren’t just minor translation accidents; these are shifts that have shaped the soul of Christianity. Whether it’s the concept of original sin, the eternal burning hell, or the place of women in church, much of Christian doctrine took root in a mistranslation, a misplaced word, or a choice between meanings.
Comments:
Robert W Ahrens
In 1 Timothy 2:12, Paul says, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man.”
I would note that half of the Pauline works are now known to be forgeries, and often contravene the real ones. If I remember right, the claims of not allowing women to have this authority was in one of the forgeries. Pauls’ real books talk a lot about female authority figures in various churches!
Brian Meadows
Meanwhile, Gehenna, an actual valley outside Jerusalem that was a trash-burning pit, also started being used interchangeably with hell.
It seems to me to be worth pointing out that ‘Gehenna’, the actual valley of Hinnom where the trash-burning pit was, is today a pleasant park which may include a golf course; not sure about that.
Jonathan Lynn Harvey
As parthenos, which typically means “virgin.”
Parthenos can also mean a self-sufficient woman.
A character in the Iliad is referred to as a “son of a parthenon”, and Athena’s temple is called The Parthenon
I. M. Koen
I marvel when really smart people like you, Tanner get caught in the trap. The Hebrew word in Isaiah means young maiden. Therefore it doesn’t mean virgin. When Mary clearly stated she was a virgin.
The word sheol means grave. It was a burning garbage dump. Therefore there is no hell. When scripture is clear about a burning place called hell. And a lake of fire.
No need to go on and on. I think people should believe what they want to believe. It just makes it so much easier at the judgment. I love your work. Keep them coming. It is great reading.
Grant Piper
I am a Christian and I agree with most of these things. I definitely think the idea of Satan and the Devil are overblown. How can you believe in an all powerful God and be scared of a created being?
I also think the idea of hell (and heaven) is more nuanced than people like to believe. Jesus says eternal life is knowing God and Revelation says Heaven is a place where God’s glory bathes everything all the time. If you didn’t want to know God on Earth or bathe in his Glory here…why would you ever end up in heaven where that is what you will do for all eternity? Hell is simply eternity without God’s glory and light. And many people want that for themselves and show that by their actions and attitude toward God in this life.
D Is For Darwin
So you know Greek and Hebrew better than those early writers?
Plus you know Greek, Hebrew, Latin and Aramaic much better than any team of scholars that give us our modern translations??
Plus do all words carry the same meaning for all of their lives??
Because you know more than they do. Please give us your complete Bible translation. So that we can have the Tanner corrected version.
What are you hoping to prove?? You think that you can somehow change my mind and heart about what Jesus has done in my heart for these many years??
Perhaps I should follow and pattern my life after yours instead??
Malicyoung
So, later on, when Matthew wrote his gospel, he grabbed that Greek term and ended up describing Jesus’ birth as a virgin birth. This version heavily influenced the entire Christian doct…
Matthew probably realized the original prophecy needed to be punched up. Foretelling that a “young woman” would soon become pregnant isn’t much of a prophecy–young women get knocked up everyday, usually by accident. But a virgin conceiving a child? Now that’s an event of some note.
Sergey Shakhness
But when the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek (Septuagint), almah was translated as parthenos, which typically means “virgin.”
There is a legend in the Eastern Orthodox Church that one of the translators wanted to write ‘a young woman’. Then, a voice speaks from above “Write ‘a virgin’!” So the translator asks “What? God, but that’s impossible”. God says “Write it down, I’ll show you it’s possible.” The guy wrote it down, and lived to the ripe age of 200+ years until he saw it was, indeed, possible.
Scott A. Moore
- Original Sin — A Mistranslation Born of Augustine’s Reading
Irenaeus of Lyon (two hundred years before Augustine)…was already writing about the concept come to be known as original sin. Augustine probably did coin the phrase but it is not that he mistranslated Paul and then developed a new doctrine based on a mistranslation. Augustine was also battling the Pelagians and their opposition to a concept of original sin. So, perhaps he went looking for support in scripture and that fit. Now the fact that there has been a long debate about this passage is worth noting. And comparative linguistics like looking at the Peshitta (Syriac New Testament…Syriac is very close to Aramaic) also support the idea here that the translation should not be seen as “in whom” (as in Adam).
Paul’s argument here is based on the archetype of Adam = sin and Jesus = redemption. So, this idea is already inherent to a degree (certainly debatable) in Romans.
Adam=sin=death. Jesus=no sin=life.
Misschameleon
That choice has restricted women’s roles in the church for centurie. That didn’t just restrict women’s role in the church. It restricted women’s roles in life and, aided by the doctrine that “as God is head of the church, so man is head of the household,” turned women into the extension of the most prominent man around them.
Adrian Stoica
The four gospels have been written independently from each other. You say that Matthew could have made a translation error but Luke not only says the same thing but describes the process: “But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”
So the message of the Bible is clear and intentional, potential errors in translation can be safely eliminated.
GrantR
I am a Christian but I agree that blunders and interpolations have shaped doctrine over time.
Exodus 33: God talks to Moses and Moses sees God’s body parts, God has spoken with Moses face to face, and yet it says that no man can see Gods face can live. I don’t believe that you believe in God and I might be wrong, I do believe in the God of the Bible, but we can both agree that the original text would not have contradicted itself so clearly as the current one does. A better translation is that no man in their sins can see God. Otherwise Moses, Jacob, and many others should be burned up.
1 Samuel 16:14-16, 23: These verses say that an evil spirit from the Lord came. Evil spirits cannot come from the Lord. Just as Satan cannot cast out Satan, an evil spirit cannot come from God.
Jeremiah 26:13 and Amos 7:3 talk about the Lord repenting. The Lord does not repent, men do.
There are more. The Bible has been edited over time and has lost some very important points that were there in the beginning.
Sola scriptura is the stupidest doctrine to me. If you appeal to the Bible this is circular reasoning. If you appeal to an outside source that is separate from the Bible. It makes more sense to me that God is the authority, and that we base doctrines off of the Holy Spirit, and that this is the primary way that we know truth.
This is especially why I am so open to new revelation from God. However, many Christians believe that there can be no more revelations or things like that. However I believe in an unchanging God so I don’t see why He would cease to use miracles and prophets and things like this.
Also, looking at mainstream Christianity, my question is: Which one is right? So when I heard the story of Joseph Smith going to ask God which church is true, after reading James 1:5, this resonated with me and it only makes sense that if a God interacts with our world, He would still be conscious of us and should have leaders for us.
That’s why I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, as we understand that the Bible has mistakes but still believe in the motivating force behind all of it, a God who speaks to men and uses prophets, and we believe in the Book of Mormon aswell, not just because it exists, but because those who have a testimony of it pray to ask God. God is our #1 authority and He continues to give revelations to people everywhere. We are still led by prophets and apostles as this is the way Jesus made his church.
Mark Cavanaugh
From Aramaic to Hebrew to Greek to German to English? Does the phrase “lost in translation” mean anything?
The opposite of faith is certainty. Yet those that claim to have such great faith are absolutely certain about what they read in book translated multiple times.
Andrew Rogers
What about the translation of “antisthenai” from koine Greek?? In Matthew 5:39, Jesus says do not antisthenai an evil person, is this a correct or incorrect translation?? Because that verse gives way to doormat theology
Gary L. Engstrom
Great explanation of origin of these misbeliefs. One question I have though, were these slip-ups or was it deliberate?
Starting with original sin, Jesus needed to be without sin. It was believed that sin was passed on through the birthing process, and the birth canal had to be “uncontaminated” by the sexual act. so Jesus’ mother had to be sin free–a virgin. It wasn’t until the 16th century that someone said, oh how about Mary’s mother–her immaculate conception was fabricated.
Also, with original sin, there had to be a punishment (Hell), and a way to make money (penance and works), and an authority to enforce things (church authority), a hierarchy (God, church authority, men, women, children, cats and dogs). And, finally an excuse why men and church leaders (when caught) did stupid things (the devil made me do it)
All of these things fit into a hierarchical system, as was the Roman Empire. Two hierarchical systems collaborating makes for a powerful government. The complete opposite of what Jesus fought for and preached against.
While I am by no means an expert on the ancient religion of Manichaeism, it was the favorite religion of the rich and powerful, this was the origination of original sin.
In fact Augustine’s father was a Manichaeist (his mother was a Christian) and Augustine was also a Manichaeist from age 19-29 until his conversion to Christianity.
In Manichaeism the rich and powerful were exempt from original sin, however, everyone else were not. However, those who served the elite gained favor through penance and works, would spend less time in purgatory. And, finally, those that did not serve the needs of the elite, whet straight to hell.
Emperor Constantine “abolished” Manichaeism in favor of the Christian label, but many of the Mani practices were brought into Christianity.
The modern Christian Church needs to free itself from these misbeliefs.
Marco Röder
You are right, there are many mistranslations in most modern Bible versions. That is why I prefer to read the Hebrew text. There is where the music plays.
Rezwan Razani
It’s all because someone translated ‘authentein’ as a hard “authority” rather than a nuanced control.
For more on patriarchically driven translation tricks and alternate interpretations, check out “Biblical Womanhood” by Beth Allison Barr. Here’s a review of it, right on Medium: https://medium.com/@pkajjohnson/book-review-the-making-of-biblical-womanhood-how-the-subjugation-of-women-became-gospel-truth-by-7f38ec9bca2b
Scott A. Moore
‘The translation left just enough room for the Catholic Church to justify establishing the papacy.’
Again…ummm not exactly. This passage really became important during the great Schism and beyond. It wasn’t about a text that supported establishing the papacy but identifying why the Petrine episcopacy was superior to the other bishops throughout Christendom. It was Rome saying…yes all bishops are equal but one is more equal than the others. How do we know? Look at this text. The bishop of Rome (one of the primary titles of the Pope) was the primary bishop for Western Christendom. And that lineage traces itself back to Peter as the first bishop of Rome. So this is more about inner church power struggles than the idea of the pope, per se.
Scott A. Moore
But when translated into Latin, it became poenitentiam agere, or “do penance.”
Well, actually in the Bible it became “paenitentia” in the Old Latin and Latin Vulgate. Penance or acts of penance. So the “doing” is not there as explicitly. And I think you mean religious and not ritual here.
As far as addressing the extremely simplistic take on Luther et al., I can just say Luther opposed numeration of sins and a quid pro quo notion of penance. That is true. He also upheld and encouraged private confession. The doctrine of purgatory and subsequent practices like indulgences had become so expanded and pervasive and corrupt that the Wittenberg faculty (where Luther taught) seriously wanted to talk this one through, hence the 95 Theses and the follow up tensions, to which that led.
America Thraves
I’m fascinated by languages all around and I’ve often tried explaining to people that the Bible has been translated many times. No matter what you believe about its origins, the translations were written by people. Moreover, the King James Bible which is most commonly used in the US, is a translation of a translation of a translation of a translation too many times over to count. It’s like the old game of telephone where someone whispers a message into the war if the person next to them and it’s passed down the line. The message never ends up being the same at the other end. Yet, the Bible os a book on which many people base their entire lives.
Michael Stein
I wonder how many of these developments would have happened anyway, regardless of translation. The best example for this is ‘hell’ and ‘Satan’. Eternal life in heaven was a ‘novel’ concept in Jesus’ age, even part of the Jews still believed that there was no life after death. Similarly, most Greeks and Romans believed that if there was life after death it was in the shadowy world of Hades, not a pleasant place, but a place we all go to (there were cults that promised believers a pleasant eternal life).
Then Christianity, Judaism, and some pagan cults all had to work out how to deal with the consequences of life after death. Life in paradise came easy (and is already found in the Bible), while at the same time ‘hell’ is still a very vague concept, and Satan is still ‘the adversary’. Later these concepts were more developed, but I doubt that the mistranslations were their source. Men needed something to ‘tie’ these concepts to, and certain bible verses came in handy.
Julie
Please look up “1946-The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture”. It’s a well researched documentary about how the “homosexual” word was erroneously translated into the Bible. It’s probably THE most damaging example.
Ruchama
Brilliant article. FYI thought you’d appreciate this verse from proverbs. “There are three things which are too wonderful for me, for which I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship in the middle of the sea, and the way of a man with a young woman [b’almah][/b’almah].”
(Proverbs 30:18-20
“In the above three verses, King Solomon compares a man with an alma to three other things: an eagle in the sky, a serpent on a rock, and a ship in the sea.
What do these four things all have in common?
They leave no trace.
After the eagle has flown across the sky, it is impossible to determine whether an eagle had ever flown through that airspace. Once a snake has slithered over a rock, there is no way to discern that the snake had ever crossed there (as opposed to a snake slithering over sand or grass, where it leaves a trail). After a ship passes through the sea, the wake behind it comes together and settles behind it, leaving no way to discern that a ship had ever moved through this body of water.
Similarly, King Solomon declares that once a man has been sexually intimate with an almah, i.e. a young woman, no trace of sexual intercourse is visible, unlike a virgin who will leave behind a discharge of blood after her hymen is broken.
In the same way that in the English language the words “young woman” does not indicate sexual purity, in the Hebrew language, there is no relationship between the words almah and virgin. On the contrary, it is usually a young woman who bears children. The word alma only conveys age/gender. Had Isaiah wished to speak about a virgin, he would have used the word betulah ((In fact, although Isaiah used the Hebrew word almah only one time in his entire corpus (7:14), the prophet uses this word virgin (betulah) five times throughout the book of Isaiah (23:4; 23:12; 37:22; 47:1; 62:5).)) (בְּתוּלָה) not almah. The word betulah appears frequently in the Jewish Scriptures, and is the only word – in both biblical and modern Hebrew – that conveys sexual purity.” Tovia Singer
Nickolas Pitfield
“That choice has restricted women’s roles in the church for centuries.” That should read: “That choice has restricted women’s roles everywhere for centuries.”|
Scott A. Moore
The Latin Vulgate used infernum, which began to add connotations of a fiery underworld. Actually not really. The use of infernum didn’t connote fire. It was, in fact, the conflation of Gehenna with Infernum that started making things toasty. Matthew and Revelation serve as proto conflations, where metaphors like Gehenna are thrown together with the afterlife and it took a while to get some legs. Tertullian (2nd Century CE) and then Augustine of Hippo (4th-5th Century CE…check out his City of God…somewhere in Books 20-25 I can’t remember which)…both of these influential early Christian thinkers began to shape a lasting doctrinal notion of what the afterlife looks like.
America Thraves
While I disagree with some of what you say, you bring up a great point in mentioning that words do not necessarily maintain their meaning over time but rather evolve. There are also words which mean more than one thing. An article such as this isn’t necessarily saying people are wrong in their beliefs though not knowing the author personally I cannot speak to his motivation. However, it’s not a bad thing to make people think more deeply about important topics especially those upon which they base their lives.
Stephen Kosmalski
There are a lot of words in English which can have several inferences, and the ancient languages are the same. That is why your article lacks credibility. That is why we have to understand the historical, sociological, philosophical contexts. For those we go not to linguists, we go to scholars who knew the languages and the settings like Jerome, who very much knew them all .
Anthony Hendriks
I’m with you except on Satan and women in authority. Re Satan, you are probably correct re the translation, but there is much more on this being (and the demnic in general). Too much to dismiss it as myth. Re women, a stronger argument for them having authority today is that the Bible is sometimes prescriptive and sometimes descriptive. Paul is being descriptive in his writing and it is referring to a specific situation — not one we face today. Keep writing!
Imran Uz Zaman
Those who are surprised at the connection of Mother Maryam in this whole matter, and if they believe in this, then they should also be surprised at the birth of Prophet Adam (peace be upon him) that he was created by Allah from clay, here the claim of the Christians, who, due to their misguidedness, call Isa Ibn Maryam Alehissalam the son of The Almighty, is completely refuted.
Mark Stephenson
The situation with “almah” is not quite as simple as you suggest. Wikipedia has a balanced account of the various interpretations: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almah#
Judy Vidakovich
In 1946, when the RSV (Revised Standard Version) of the Bible was translated from the original languages into modern English, the ecumenical scholars doing the work in Paul’s letters changed the Greek word arsenokoites into the English word homosexuals. Those words are not the same thing, but at the time, they felt that “homosexuals” was their best option for a modern English word.
In 2021, I read an article saying the translators later regretted making that word selection. Their choice had contributed to homophobia among Christians.
The word “arsenokoites” is actually a compound word only used twice in the Bible (1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and 1 Timothy 1:9-10) and from its context seems to imply abuse between adult men and adolescent boys (masters and servants). Arsenokoites does not mean one’s sexual orientation (homosexuality).
The New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVue) corrects the previous error by removing “homosexuals” and replacing it with “men who engage in illicit sex”.
Johnrieger
Another approach along the same lines is a book by two Jewish archaeologists called ‘The Bible Unearthed’. The authors found that very few of the sites that the Pentateuch describes actually exist.
Barren Place
The Christian Bible is descriptive of spiritual states, not physical histories. For instance, the virgin birth is the opposite of the cunning forked tongue of hypocrisy. You really need to consider your own inability to understand scripture.
Elizabeth Davis
And so we come to the creation of “Exvangelicals”, those among us who read the Bible, look at organized religion and say, “Wait a minute!” because what we know of God from experience doesn’t line up with everything we learned in Sunday school. As someone who was raised a Catholic, then grew up to be a Protestant, I wanted to find the truth about what Jesus really said and meant. Turns out that it wasn’t what we were taught in Catholic or Sunday school; King James’ translators got a lot wrong. As you pointed out, minor changes make major differences. The revelations from the Dead Sea Scrolls and other discoveries have either clarified some things or gave rise to questions the Church in general can’t prove pat answers to. We see all brands of Christianity denounce every discovery as a forgery if it doesn’t line up with their theology. All of that began very early in church history, when Constantine and friends met to codify the “complete and REAL” Bible. I think any true believer has to keep an open mind and be willing to let go of any belief that is called into question by the discovery of earlier works. The further we get from the origin of the gospels, the less likely they are to be unchanged.
J. A. Nickerson
Not surprising that the human tendency towards selective hearing and language barriers have caused millennia of death and misery. All of that over a Jewish mystic’s philosophy on compassion during a time of empirical conquest.
J. A. Nickerson
Not surprised by this at all. Ever played the game “Telephone”? Add that to the human tendency for selective hearing and we have millennia of turmoil over a Jewish mystic’s philosophy of how to live compassionately
Steven Hedlesky
OH No!!! It said celebrate, not celibate.
Patricia Allison
By a curious coincidence, I preached on number 4 just yesterday! Your points are all good ones – although I would hesitate to insist that we understand the language perfectly and our predecessors were wrong every time. Human language can never capture the divine, and it is just as arrogant to think that we are right as it is to assume that they were always wrong. As a certain Archbishop said, “God keep me in the company of those who seek the truth and protect me from those who think they’ve found it.”
Ross Chamberlain
And so flourished the Spanish Inquisition (which, as we all know via Monty Python), nobody expected.
Vern Scott
Good job. This may be an even better version of what I just posted, entitled “Three Historic Hijackings of Christianity” https://scottvern.medium.com/three-historical-hijackings-of-christianity-7c1d5dfe60bf
Interesting in particular the rather recent inventions of “faith-only” (from Catholic good works and faith, James 2:24) and “Satan as ruler of all things evil” (from God’s agent meant to simply test our faith). I added the hijacking of the Holy Spirit (made into some kind of charismatic, speaking in tongues, snake-handling thing?) and the melding of God/Jesus in the Trinity, in lieu of Jesus being the literal son of God. Did these grow so as to “scare people into compliance”?
Luisolmedo
In one of the gospels,it tells us mary was with child BEFORE she married joseph, what does that make this “young maiden”? A” virgin” that’s pregnant supernaturally…..
Ozymandias
Isnt the Faith vs faith and good works the other way around, the Proddies demand both but the Catholics require faith alone (and a few pounds in gold, at least in the good old days).
Andrew D. McBride MD, MPH
Lost in translation. Who knows in how many languages, modalities, translators, editors, and others have produced the Bible? The Left and Jihadist want to burn it or revise it behind recognition.
Max
Very interesting. Any insights into other popular fiction books, like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings ?
Patrick Prescott
What is the scripture reference for the difference of penance and repentance?
Rosemary Calhoon Takacs
Children eventually figure out that Santa is a myth, but many Christians doggedly hold that these biblical myths are factual . The damage caused by their anti-science, anti-evolution, gender rigid beliefs affects all of us. Truly toddlers in control.
James Jordan
So 2000 years of scholarship and everyone missed that … and you caught the mistakes
yea that sounds legit
these are weak attacks on christianity that have been around for a couple hundred years … sorry you missed that it is possible to look up every single word
EVERY > SINGLE > WORD
and see how and why it was translated that way
some words “could” be translated differently and that is how cults get started
sorry but if you dont have at least a PHD in Greek and an advanced degree in linguistics as well as english .. you are not qualified to comment on tranaslations
Chuan Hiang Teng
The Hebrew term here is almah, meaning “young woman.” But when the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek (Septuagint), almah was translated as parthenos, which typically means “virgin….
Are you sure you are right? How can you prove they didn’t intend to say v”irgin birth”?
Jacob Blaustein
Um, I think you need citations.
